Sky Germany is using the Lawo mc²66 audio console for their 24-hour sports news channel “Sky Sport News HD”. Delivering round the clock news to viewers in Germany and Austria the channel control room was designed for minimum staffing. Two operators can run the studio using Mosart automation to trigger and control camera tracking shots or panning, switch video sources, fade up graphics, open and close microphone faders.

The system’s ability to concurrently trigger multiple devices allows us to create complex live sequences that would otherwise require pre-rendering or rehearsal — for which there’s no time in 24-hour rolling news.” explained Pat McGuinness, consultant project manager at Sky Germany.

System integrator Wellen+Nöthen started construction in 2011. “Being on-air in a 24/7 routine, the reliability of the complete system infrastructure plays a crucial role: all components are under continuous operation and, at the same time, have to deliver full performance around the clock. The Lawo mc²66 mixing console offers the required operational reliability. It excels by its high performance and thus allows the smooth 24-hour operation”, says Holger Lentge, the audio engineer at Wellen+Nöthen. “The Lawo Remote Protocol is supported by the Mosart control – that’s why the communication between the two systems works extremely well. Thus, not only static matrix states, but also dynamic parameters, like fader movements, can be remote-controlled,” continues Lentge.

The central audio mixing console is a second generation Lawo mc²66 with a 24+8 frame, equipped with 32 faders, three DSP boards supplying 144 DSP channels. After a software update, the number of DSP channels was increased to 288. Like the router card connected with four DALLIS frames, the power supply unit and the master MADI boards are also implemented in a fully redundant design.